Industries specializing in injection molding, gas-assisted injection molding, structural foam molding, blow molding, and thermoforming processes strive continuously to mold articles at faster cycle times. When scrutinizing the cycle time and methods to shorten it, the focus typically falls upon the cooling process, as it is generally the longest part of any cycle. One approach to shortening the cycle time is directed to the mold components (i.e., cavity, core, slides, lifters, etc.). Mold components are generally constructed using blocks of metal. The profile or details of the molding surface are typically cut into the metal blocks. Channel patterns, e.g., cooling/heating channels, are then drilled from various angles such that the channels intersect one another to form cooling/heating circuits. One drawback of the resulting mold component is that the channels are drilled at straight lines into the metal, and the resulting channel patterns oftentimes do not conform to the shape of the intended molded article. This non-conformity causes uneven heat transfer between the mold component and molded article, thus making it difficult to mold products at a faster cycle time and compromising the quality of the molded article (i.e., causing different shrinkage rates due to hot and cold spots in the molded article, warpage, and the like).